


on a plane to you

by capt_ann



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: I like surprises, M/M, and since we're a small fandom, i hope yall give this fic a go without many tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-21 10:04:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22559197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capt_ann/pseuds/capt_ann
Summary: Arthur's been to England once before the Fischer job, and he didn't even get to enjoy it.But after that call, being a tourist and soaking in the place was the last thing on his mind.
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 64
Collections: Eames' Stupid Cupid 2020





	on a plane to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kate_the_reader](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate_the_reader/gifts).



> Didn't think that I would pretty much ever end up writing for Inception, so here, have fun with all these headcanons I made when I watched it for the millionth time!

Arthur was in the middle of an extraction job when he got the call telling him that there was a possibility Eames might be in trouble. It was a small job, and he had just started out in the dream share business. He would have plenty more big jobs to take up later in the future. At least that’s what he told Eames years later, when he asked what Arthur was thinking when he had dropped everything and caught a flight to London after hanging up the phone.

Martin, the one who called Arthur, told him that the reason he thought Eames was in trouble was because Eames dropped off the grid with no warning, and has stayed that way for the last two weeks. “I figured you’d want to know. Not saying it’s impossible for someone to find him and turns out he wasn’t in deep shit.” He had said. “But if anyone can find him, it’s you.”

He wasn’t wrong. Arthur had built up quite a reputation in dream share since being recruited almost two years ago. Even with Arthur’s skills it was hard to pinpoint Eames’s exact coordinates, but he had a rough estimate on where to go looking, one hour into his flight. And Arthur’s estimates hadn’t ever failed him.

Thankfully, they didn’t fail him that time around, either. His research had gotten him to an abandoned factory at the end east of London, but it was the shouts and sounds of guns being fired that affirmed that Eames was there.

Arthur wasn’t dense, of course. Pre-arrival to the factory, he purchased a Taurus LBR revolver, and as much as he didn’t want Eames to be harmed, he was a bit relieved that he didn’t buy a firearm for no reason.

It was honestly a bit disappointing that there weren’t any guards appointed outside to keep watch. Not in Arthur’s view, anyway, but it did make it easier for him to peek into the facility. From what he could see, the burly men had their backs to him, which meant that if Eames really was here, he would be where they were facing. So, naturally, Arthur went around the factory and looked for an opening. 

Upon finding one, he slipped by quietly. Still no guards posted by the doors, oddly. He’d have to ask Eames what mess he got himself into that they couldn’t even be bothered to be quiet _or_ well secured. He had to slip by three men on his way through a hallway, so at least there was that.

Gun by his side, Arthur walked quietly with his back to the wall, ready to take a peek where the hall divided into two. Arthur was a lot of things, and over prepared would be one of them in most situations, so was Arthur expecting someone to be there? Yes, always expect the worst in any situation. But was Arthur expecting to have his gun drawn to Eames’s face? Also yes, always expect the worst, but don’t keep out the best. Just give it a slim chance in comparison. 

_“Bloody Hell!”_ Was the first thing Eames had half yelled, his gun, also drawn out, poking at Arthur’s ribs. “… Arthur?”

“Yes, hi.” Arthur replied with a frown, moving to look over Eames’s shoulder in case he was being followed, and then checking the other hallway before stopping in front of the forger again. After doing so, he notices that Eames’s hand was clutching his side, a dark stain seeping through his shirt and coat. “You’re bleeding. Why are you bleeding?”

“I got shot.” Eames stated, leaning heavily against the wall with one shoulder, using this time to wipe at his forehead with the hand holding his gun. 

“Right. I’m sorry, allow me to rephrase. _How_ did you get shot?” Arthur amends with a little scorn. Because Eames was many things, too, but clumsy enough to get shot was not one of them. Arthur would bet on Eames if he was in a gunfight with six other people, no doubt. 

“Well.” Eames starts, looking as Arthur silently paces back and forth to check if anyone was coming. It wasn’t worth being taken by surprise and leaving with more than one gunshot. “You know how in the movies, when the character runs through open fire, they come out with not even a graze of a bullet?”

“Oh my God.” Alright. Maybe Arthur should have at least a little doubt before betting, then. 

“In my defence, a former CIA agent once confirmed that if you ran right through, you would have more chances of not getting shot than you would if you ran in a zigzag pattern.” Eames informs. That’s when Arthur decided that Eames had lost too much blood, and it was time to head to a doctor.

Reloading his revolver, Arthur lets out a sigh. “There’s only three men on the way back to the exit, I can take them, but do you think you can run fast enough to the car?”

“Yes, of course.” Eames nods, wiping away some sweat from his forehead to follow Arthur as he starts walking back to where he came from. “Just for the people who don't know, though, could you tell them how far away this car is?”

“Three miles. I wasn’t sure what I would walk into.” He says, stopping by the wall he knew was dividing Arthur and Eames from the three men. “Listen, I don’t have a silencer on me, which means that as soon as I get these men down, we’re going to have to make a run for it. If you need to pass out or stop, don’t, not without letting me know first, got it?”

“Got it. Don’t worry, though, I think I’m good for a while. Let’s just get this done as fast as bloody possible.”

Getting out of that factory was slightly messier than Arthur wanted to be, and if he’s honest, he’s not sure how they got out without another gunshot on either of them. See, Arthur wasn’t very for the idea of killing someone out of dreams just to escape, but he wasn’t against shooting them to put them to a disadvantage. All Arthur remembers clearly amidst all those bullets firing, was a very loud, _“You’re going to regret this, William.”_

They made it to the car without Eames having to take a break, which Arthur was glad about. That meant that he wasn’t in a terrible shape, and also that the wound was pretty fresh from the moment Arthur found him. A fresh wound to treat is still better than an old wound, and he’s taking what he’s getting at this point.

“You okay?” He asks Eames once he’s driven at least ten miles away from the place and towards the city.

Eames waves his hand about. “Yeah, I’m alright. I’m okay.” He says. But the way he’s leaning back into the rented cars’ seat says otherwise. Thankfully Eames is careful enough to try and avoid bleeding onto the seat, Arthur doesn’t know any place in London where they clean up the blood in your car without asking questions. Arthur doesn’t know any place in London, period, actually. 

Slowing down the car, and making sure there were no more speeding and oncoming cars around them, he leans over to lift up Eames’s shirt slightly to check out the shot. His frown deepens when he does so. There was no way he was going to be able to treat that properly. “We’re going to have to get you to a doctor. You know anyone that wouldn’t call the cops if you walked in with a gunshot wound?” He asks, moving away to concentrate on the road again.

“You know what, I actually do. ‘Fraid it’s towards North London. I’ll give you directions.”

Arthur pulls over to a corner where there wasn’t much light, and he was sure they weren’t being followed. “Alright, but you’re going to have to change if you don’t want people on the street calling the cops or something.”

“I hardly think that’s necessary,” Eames says, shaking his head. “People expect injured people to go to the hospital. Besides, it’s not like I have a change of clothes with me right now.”

“Here, you can have this,” Arthur takes off the sweater that he was wearing over his maroon button down shirt, holding it out for Eames. “Sorry, I don’t have a change of clothes either.” He adds, not including the reason, which was the fact that he just got onto the first plane possible, and didn’t get to grab anything with him.

Eames just stares at the outstretched sweater for a few seconds before he blinks. “Are you giving me your favourite Armani sweater to potentially bloody up?”

“I don’t have favourites. Besides, we can’t walk in with you looking like that, and as I said, I don’t have any extra clothes with me, and we can’t afford to waste time buying new ones.” Arthur states, waving the sweater closer to Eames. 

“Well, can’t really complain with you, now that you’ve saved my life, can I?” Eames says. Then clears his throat and starts taking off his shirt and tie as Arthur gets them back on the road. 

Thirty minutes later, Eames goes into the room with his doctor friend (“Kate. She’s actually also an architect in our line of work,”), and Arthur’s sitting in the waiting room, fiddling with his tie. Another thirty minutes later, Eames is hugging Kate goodbye. “You take care of that one. Has a nasty habit of coming to meet me every time he’s in London. And not just because he’s missed me.” She tells Arthur. At his frown, she adds, “Although it’s not always this bad,” as if that helped.

When they’re back in the car, Eames tells him to take a right, and follows his instructions until he’s stopped in front of a small park. Eames climbs out of the car, so Arthur goes after him, and soon they’re both sitting on a bench. After a few moments of silence, Eames starts talking, but keeps his eyes on the dark pond. “Thank you. For coming to find me. Although, I don’t know how you did it.”

“I have my ways.” Arthur shrugs, leaning forward on his elbows. It’s then that Arthur remembers one of the men called Eames a name that Arthur didn’t recognise he used as an alias. “They weren’t after you from a dream job gone wrong, were they?”

There’s a pause before Eames looks at him with an expression of both wonder and confusion. “Nothing slips past you, does it?”

“They called you William.” Arthur explains. “I don’t think I know any of your fake I.D.'s as William.”

“No, you wouldn’t. It’s not a fake identity.” He speaks quietly, shifting back to look away. “My first name’s William-Thomas, I’m named after my father. He was a well known bloke. Even in the military, it would be ‘William, huh? Your father was a great soldier. Hope you can live up to his legacy’ and all that bull. But the man’s an absolute arse otherwise, so I changed it because I didn’t want to be affiliated with him anymore.”

He doesn’t say anything more, letting Arthur soak up everything he’d been told so far. “Wait, so, Eames was-,”

“My mum’s maiden name. Yes.” And that’s what stunned Arthur into silence.

See, secrecy doesn’t come with the dream share business, he knows everything there is to know about Dominic Cobb. What he did before dream share, how he got into it, how he met his wife, what they planned to name their children. He knew Mal Cobb just as intimately, even that she loves what you can do with dreams, but hates the idea of extractions.

_“Why would you invade such a private part of the mind without a care?”_ She’d once said to him. “ _Most people struggle with the knowledge they have, and there are people running about stealing that information as they lay clueless.”_ It had shaken him enough to convince him not to take jobs for two months. But it was her husband who got him into the business, and was him who would make him go back. 

So while their line of work doesn’t require you to lie about who you are to your teammates, people still preferred being on a one name basis and keeping most of their personal lives separate. For Eames to tell him all of that- he couldn’t even begin to imagine how that could change their relationship.

“Well,” Eames coughed out. “I better get going, then. Don’t think it’s wise for me to be in London any longer.”

Right, of course. Arthur would have done the same. Maybe not exactly the same, he probably would have caught a plane before going to the hospital, despite the risk, but this was different because he didn’t think to trust anyone enough to let them watch his back after such an incident. Luckily, he wasn’t the one who went through that event, and he was the best at taking care of someone, as he was at hunting them down.

“Let me give you a ride to the airport, I’m headed that way, anyway.” Arthur managed to offer. “The car belongs to them, but I’ll have to clean the passenger seat first.”

Eames stands up and smiles. “Least I can do is help you with that.”

**_————_ **

The last job that Arthur had done without Dominic Cobb, was the one he had done in Laos, with Eames and Kate. 

What Arthur liked about Eames _(amongst other things)_ was that he was a good extractor, too. Most forgers he met could only do so much on the job. As a former theatre kid, Arthur does appreciate the other forgers and their talents, it’s not so easy pinpointing someone’s every move so well that you would fool people closest to them. But Eames’s intelligence was a thing of wonders.

When Arthur was going over the plan of the job they were doing, he could’ve simply written down the flaw he’d found, gone to sleep, and met Eames and Kate and told them about it a few hours later. After considering that option, Arthur packed up the files and grabbed his coat, heading out to get a cab and go to the hotel Eames was staying at.

Eames opened his door and looked at Arthur with bewilderment, which almost distracted Arthur from what he was about to say. Also, was there something up with the way he was dressed? Why was it nagging at Arthur’s mind?

“Arthur? What are you doing here?” Eames asked, getting him back on track. 

“There’s a problem with our plan. We’ve got to change the layout.” He replied, and entered the room when Eames made room for him to get inside. He explained why they had to change the layout of the second room, since the mark hadn’t been there in years, and lost their sentiment over a particular thing they were supposed to highlight.

“And you couldn’t have texted us about that?” Eames asked, slightly amused. What Arthur appreciated about Eames, was also the fact that he understood why Arthur couldn’t wait a whole day until they fixed a blip in the plan on any job.

Arthur shook his head and stopped pacing to stand in front of Eames. “I don’t like talking about jobs and locations via phones or emails unless they’re vague. It’s risky. I told you this before.”

Eames nodded and they went over the plan again, deciding how to change it. Arthur had been in the middle of tweaking one of Eames’s suggestions when he trailed off and it hit him, why Eames’s clothing choices were nagging at Arthur’s head. He was wearing it. Eames was wearing the sweater that Arthur had given him so long ago. Eames was more bulked now than he was back then, so it filled out the sweater more, the shape of his biceps more prominent, but it was definitely that one.

“You know what,” Arthur said, standing up abruptly from the chair he sat at a few minutes ago. “It’s getting late,” he looked at his empty wrist, and almost kicked himself. “We can just pick up about this tomorrow. We need to tell Kate about it anyway.”

“Uh, sure.” Eames shrugged, not commenting on his sudden change in demeanour, and followed Arthur as he opened the door and headed out.

Before Arthur left, he turned around to face Eames who was leaning on the door frame, one leg crossed in front of the other. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, love.”

  
  
  


The next day, they filled Kate in on what they spoke about last night, and changed most of the plan.

“I suggest having the mark taken to the museum he likes so much and adding a new piece. The pattern on his dog’s coat, perhaps, people get awfully attached to their pet companions, and we could use that pattern to relay back to him when we open his phone.” Eames told Kate, walking over to the table where their papers are laid out. “Then we should have access to all the information.”

“Or,” Arthur interrupted, just as he had done the night before. “The mark could go back to his childhood home, to bring back the melody boxes sentiment, and open the safe. Half our previous plan relied partly on it, so we could still use it. It’s too much of a wish come true if we expect the art piece to stick with him enough.”

“People change, Arthur, we can’t always expect the man to fall back into his old habits. Besides, if we go with my plan, then we can use your original back up plan for this. It’d be a win-win situation.”

When they spoke about it previously, they didn’t make it this far, so it pained Arthur a bit to admit that Eames had a point.

“Alright, fine, but if we reach phase D in the plan, then I expect you to have my back.”

“Of course, darling, wouldn’t do it any other way.” Eames replied.

“Every time I work a job with you two, it’s the most messy yet clean job I work.” Kate said, making them both turn to her. “Always risks, but at least they’re always thought out well, so I appreciate that.”

“This one doesn’t have a bone in him that isn’t practical about what we do. But we work well together, it’s why we’re the _dream_ pair.” Eames said, throwing a smirk Arthur’s way as he rolled his eyes and fought to keep the smile off his face.

  
  


When Eames had left for a coffee run, Kate turned on her chair to look at Arthur and said, “If I didn’t know better, I’d ask if you two are flirting right in front of me after my break up.” But in Arthur’s defence, he didn’t even know Kate enough to know that she recently broke up with someone. 

  
  


That comment, though, did inspire Arthur to hang back for a while the next day **,** until Kate had left and it was just Eames and him.

“Do you want to get dinner after the job’s done?” Arthur asked Eames before he was done packing up. “Kate told me about this place right across where you’re staying.”

And even Eames wasn’t stupid enough to presume it was a celebration dinner, or to ask whether Kate would be joining them, as well. He simply smiled and said, “I’d love to.”

“I’ll see you then, Mr. Eames.” And he left with another smile on his face.

  
  


The next day, they successfully completed the job, following Eames’s plan, and then Arthur’s back up plan. It went smoothly enough that there was no reason for phase D to step in, but Eames has his back the entire way, anyway.

When the trio collected the money from their client, Eames and Arthur parted ways with a private smile -making Kate let out an exasperated sigh-, knowing that they would see each other again in a few hours. 

  
  


What Arthur hadn’t accounted for, was the phone call he would get before the time to meet up with Eames approached, informing him that Mal had gotten in too deep and offed herself.

With nearly no hesitation, Arthur caught the first plane to Dom and the kids, and didn’t see Eames for month's, which turned into another year and a half.

  
  
  


The last job that he would do with Dominic Cobb was also the next time Eames and him would be doing a job together. 

When Dom mentions going to talk to Eames, Arthur feels alarmed.

“Eames? No, he’s in Mombasa. It’s Cobol’s backyard.”

You see, it’s not that Arthur wanted to leave Eames, or that he couldn’t care less about having seen him that evening. In fact, he regretted it most of the time. He thought to himself, _what if I’d at least told him before leaving_ , but it got to a point where he was too cowardly to reach out to him. That didn’t mean he didn’t keep tabs on him. He usually made sure he knew where Eames was, just in case he ever worked up the courage. But also to avoid any incidents like the one in England.

All Arthur could really think, was that Eames had forgiven him once he found out Arthur didn’t just ditch him, but left to grieve. 

  
  


When Eames finally shows up, despite trying to convince Dom that there were other thieves, it’s clear that their relationship is tense. Which, in truth, irritated Arthur slightly. If he could drop everything to help Eames out with something small, why should he be getting the cold shoulder for getting broken up over his friends death?

  
  


And it’s not as if he’s the one being a dick. 

“So he gives himself the idea,” Arthur says, a little astonished, as Eames explains how his forging would work in Robert’s mind.

“Precisely.” Replies Eames, barely meeting his eyes for more than a second before fleeting around the room. “That’s the only way it will stick. It has to seem self-generated.”

“Eames,” Arthur leans back, subconsciously licking his top lip. “I am impressed.”

“Your condescension, as always, is much appreciated, Arthur, thank you.” He nods with a sardonic smile, and Arthur immediately wants to punch him. Or kiss him. He doesn’t really know, seeing Eames after all this time is confusing his perception of his own feelings. 

  
  
  


“Try this,” Eames says, another day, swaying in his chair, next to Arthur. “Umm . . . ‘My father accepts that I want to create for myself, not follow in his footsteps’.”

“That might work,” Dom nods, taking a sip of his coffee.

“‘Might’?” Arthur scoffs, looking up from his moleskin. “We’re gonna have to do a little better than ‘might’.”

“Oh,” Eames looks over at Arthur with mock-happiness. “Thank you for your contribution, Arthur.”

Arthur shrugs with his hands as Eames turns his body to face him completely. “Forgive me for wanting a little specificity, Eames.”

“‘Specificity’?” Eames parrots, but Arthur hears the unspoken _‘you’ve never wanted so much specificity before’_. 

“Specificity.” Arthur replies more firmly, tempted to throw a dictionary through his head. Lucky for him, though, Dom interrupts them before Arthur actually chucks his moleskin at Eames.

However petty he may be, Arthur doesn’t cover up his amazement at their plan of inception coming together, as Eames explains everything in their shared dreams. 

When Ariadne asks what a kick is, and Eames decides to tease by tipping Arthur’s chair, he looks at Eames with irritation, but he feels his heart getting lighter. Because if Eames can make fun of him like that, that means that their relationship hasn’t been broken beyond repair. In fact, he’s relieved enough that he doesn’t tell Eames to shove off when he stands behind him and snickers at Arthur testing Yusuf’s compounds.

He almost slips and tells him something before boarding the plane, but manages to not to do that. Instead he keeps an eye on him and keeps his face neutral even though he wants to smile at how Eames-like his behaviour was, with the whole putting his feet up and getting comfortable like the douche he was portraying (“Always take advantage of the first class, Arthur.” Eames had said to him once).

  
  


Things went to Hell in the first-level when it turned out that Robert Fischer’s mind was actually militarised. Arthur was a thorough researcher, don’t get him wrong, and he read through and looked through everything that was there, and there was no indication of Robert’s mind being militarised. When Eames yelled “Bullet!” Arthur had a horrible flashback to those years ago when Eames got shot, and he reversed the car and yelled at them to cover him, but at that point he wasn't sure who he was referring to.

After successfully getting them out of the shooting range, thankful for the shooting skills of his own teammates, and running over another projection, Arthur took a quick glance back at Eames to ask him if he was alright. Hearing his “Yeah, I’m alr-, I-I’m okay. I’m okay.” affirmed that he was thinking back to that day, too.

He couldn’t worry more about Eames, however, when he looked over and saw Saito clutching his chest. Fighting with Dom wasn't something that he did a lot, and even when he did, it wasn’t big things. Mainly because Arthur felt as though he owed it to Mal and the kids to get Dom’s back, so he just put up with everything that was thrown his way and tried to find a faster route.

When Dom pushed Eames up against the cab, though, Arthur was ready to throw hands. Bless Eames for his incredible patience. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold himself back if Eames hadn’t interrupted them. When he found out they would end up in the Limbo, though, Arthur lost his head. Had it not been for Ariadne’s panicked face, he’s sure one of them might have punched Dom in the face. So, instead, he goes with Yusuf to get Saito out upstairs, only catching the beginning of Eames’s tone talking to Dom, but even then he could hear how pissed off he was.

A flare of his own panic rose up when Eames said he would sit the job out. There was no way they would be able to finish the job without him. Not when they’d gotten that far. But on the other hand, Arthur couldn’t blame him. He knew Eames, he loved a game of chance, but there was no way he would have agreed on something so dangerous.

Thankfully, Dom was the one that made the decision for him, by being a dick and pointing out the fact that they wouldn’t live if they didn’t at least try and finish the job. Either they could wait and die, try and die, or actually succeed. Arthur was definitely not a fan of the first two, so he just clenched his jaw and followed Dom’s orders.

His anger at Dom brought out his temporarily forgotten anger at Eames, too. When all Eames could relay back from the interrogation was that Robert Fischer's relationship with his father was worse than they thought, Arthur asked how it helped them, getting a FN SCAR-L assault rifle from the back of the van.

“How are we going to reconcile them if they're so estranged?” Arthur asks, pausing in front of Eames to get an answer.

Eames looks back at him, slightly baffled by Arthur’s attitude. “Well I’m working on that, aren’t I?”

“Work faster.” He said, walking away. Then, just for the sake of goodness, he adds, “The projections are closing in quick. We gotta break out of here before we’re totally boxed in.”

Arthur makes his way to the entrance so he could shoot off some of the projections for a cleaner getaway. When the bullets from the projections start getting more accurate, he notices them gaining and opens the door slightly and continues shooting. The projections seem to be getting smarter, moving away just in time for Arthur’s bullets. 

He curses under his breath, before he hears Eames’s voice from behind saying “We mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling,” making Arthur lower his rifle almost subconsciously, as he gets distracted by the fact that Eames called him darling again. _Darling_.

He watches Eames cock the grenade launcher and shoot at the direction of the men he was trying to hit earlier. After watching the explosion, he looks back at Eames, unsure whether he should say something to him. ( _Darling!_ ) Before he even thinks of what to say, or open his mouth, though, Eames walks away, not offering Arthur even a glance.

_“Well, alright, then.”_ He thinks to himself, opening the door of the warehouse enough so that their van can pass through.

Once they’re in the van and out of the warehouse, they continue talking about the job and how they’re going to move forward with it. He ignores Eames’s question of who Mr. Charles is once, but gives him a curt answer later when Eames asks if they’ve done it before, and goes back to ignoring him when Eames asks if they’ve learned from that experience. Then Arthur almost looks very sharply at him when Dom asks for a distraction and Eames replies with, _“How about a lovely lady who I’ve used before?”_

He keeps his eye on the Blonde Eames was portraying after he (she?) walks out of the bar that Dom had just walked into. _Tacky_ , he thinks to himself, a bit satisfied. A few moments later, when the projections start looking at them, he wonders if kissing Ariadne would help. Arthur wasn’t blind, she was definitely very pretty. But would she be enough to get his mind off of Eames?

The answer, as it turned out, was no. “They’re still looking at us.” Ariadne said, her nervousness growing.

“Yeah, it was worth a shot.” Arthur says, simultaneously answering both Ariadne and himself. At least it seemed to ease Ariadne’s agitation.

  
  


After explaining how he planned to wake them up to Ariadne, he went upstairs and waited for Dom, so they could go inside and set up for the third and last level of their dream. He personally liked the idea of using the mark to break into their own subconscious, it was almost enough to make him forget about why he was so mad at Dom a while back.

Dragging a line from the PASIV Device, he kneels over Eames, who was uncuffing his links, and grabs his hand to uncuff it himself and insert the needle. “Security’s going to run you down hard.” Eames says, uncomplaining, with a small smile.

“And I will lead them on a merry chase,” Arthur voices, with a slight shake of his head, unable to keep his own smile off.

Eames seems to beam at that. “Just be back before the kick.” He replied. And to anyone else, to anyone who didn’t know Eames, that wouldn’t have seemed much. Just a fellow coworker telling another to be safe, right? Well, not really. See, Eames was loyal, Eames was a great friend. But if you put him in such a level of danger, he wouldn’t care whether or not you made it out, so long as he did. So, for Eames to even subtly tell him to be careful, well, yeah, they would definitely be talking once they were topside.

“Go to sleep, Mr. Eames.” Arthur says, lightly teasing, making sure that the IV line was properly secured before leaving his side to check on Dom, who was the only one who wasn’t ready to go down to the third level.

  
  


After successfully fighting off the projections with messed up gravity, missing the kick, fighting off more projection with zero gravity, and then figuring out another way to drop the team, Arthur finally starts to accept, as he guides everyone to the elevator holding Eames, that yes, no matter what, they would be able to finish the job.

  
  


It’s when Arthur was underwater, tugging at Dom’s unmoving body that he realised that the job had cost them two men. With missing the first kick, he knew that there was no way that Saito would make it through, but he had hoped that they found another way.

As much as it pained him to wake up in the plane and see Dom’s glassy, unfocused eyes, he was still relieved to see Ariadne, Yusuf, and Eames’s faces. They did it. They finished the inception job. If you ask him later whether or not he was surprised that Saito managed to look in better shape than Dom, he couldn’t tell you.

A few minutes after they were all awake, Saito made the call and had Dom’s process through immigration sail smoothly. It seemed that Saito had most of his thoughts intact, and others still coming back to him. But when Arthur looked at Dom, it was completely the opposite.

It seemed as though Dom was slowly but surely losing sight of himself, even if he were to remember who he was, or what to do, it would be too late. He wanted to reach out to him, of course, but due to their safety hazards, he couldn’t make direct contact with anyone on the team for a while, especially not immediately after and in the airport Robert Fischer was in.

Arthur hung back long enough to see Miles, Dom’s father in-law collect him and take him out of the airport. He sent a text to Miles, prior to landing, telling him about the fact that Dom had gone back in the limbo. That was enough for him to know his son in-law wouldn’t be the same. He didn’t say it in the text, but he made a note to himself about checking in with the Cobb’s occasionally.

**_————_ **

It’s a few days before he thinks it’s time to reach out to Eames, wanting to make up for Laos. However, that evening, there’s a knock on the door to his house in L.A., and he can already tell that it’s Eames before he opens the door.

“Wearing the Armani sweater, again, are you, Mr. Eames?” Arthur says, his hand resting on the doorknob.

Eames smiles at him, walking in when Arthur opens the door further, ushering him inside. “You might not have favourites, love, but I do. And this sweater happens to be mine.”

He doesn’t respond to that, just makes his way to the kitchen to start up the kettle. “I think we need to talk,” He says instead, jumping right to it. “Do you want your usual tea?”

“Sure, I’d love some.” Eames accepts, sitting down on the dining table. “We did a great job with Fischer, didn’t we? Good bloke, too. I hope the idea sticks.”

“Yeah he’s fine. I think you two would look nice together, too.” Arthur replies, taking out two mugs from the cabinet and filling them up with the tea.

“I guess,” Eames shrugs, taking his mug from Arthur as he takes a seat opposite to him. “I think I’d look nice with most people, really. He’s just not my type.”

“I didn’t stand you up.” Arthur says, stirring his tea. “When we were done with the job in Laos, I got a call that Mal killed herself and I had to leave immediately.” He knows that Eames knew how much Mal meant to him. He’d met her when she was alive. “All this time I was annoyed that you didn’t understand why I had to go, I didn’t know that the news got out to you late.”

“How’d you figure it out now, then?”

“Yusuf.”

Eames nods, like he didn’t expect the chemist not to confront Arthur about the situation. Yusuf also told him that Eames had only found out that those two incidents took place at the same time after the inception job, when they both made the connection after Ariadne had said something about Mal.

They both sit in silence for a while, drinking their tea before Eames finally looks at him again. “Well, I’m just glad you didn’t blow me off, then, hmm?”

And that’s what sent the tense wall down. They spoke about what they did in the time after Laos, Arthur having to go after Dom and save his ass from the legals who wanted him for the alleged murder of his wife, and from the people down in dream share whenever he took up a job to get closer to having his slate cleaned up. Eames, in turn, moving to Kenya and finding all the wonders there, people dreaming just for the sake of it, finding and working with Yusuf, and taking up every interesting job that came by him.

Eames even told him about the other time he attempted a job at inception, and how they went through with it but it never managed to stick. The mark chalking it up to it just being a dream and not powerful enough to change their life dramatically.

They told each other about what happened in Robert Fischer’s inception job when the other wasn’t around. Arthur about having to fight the men with the gravity messing around, and Eames about having to fight a whole army alone in the snow.

“I threw a charge at him and gave him a thumbs up.” He laughed.

Arthur looks a bit embarrassed. “I’m pretty sure I whispered ‘paradox’ into one of the guys ears before I pushed him down the stairs without steps.”

“Of course you did.” Eames smiles. “It’s nice to treat them as if they’re real, I’d say.”

“Even the whole killing them thing? I think you need to go out to see with a therapist, Mr. Eames.” He teases, getting up to take their mugs to the sink.

“How about I go out with you instead?” Eames asks. “I heard you’ve never been to England before and after coming to my aid.”

After washing their mugs, Arthur turns around to see Eames leaning back against the chair, holding up two tickets.

“Come to London with me, darling. I’ll give you the whole tourist experience.”

And they’re both on the plane in a matter of a few hours, as Eames admits that these are the times when he’s really glad Arthur is always prepared enough to leave whatever country he’s in.

When they meet up with Kate after landing, she tells Arthur she approves of him, and that she knew he would be a good influence on Eames. “This is the first time I’m seeing him outside of a hospital or a job in years.”

All Arthur can do at that was grip Eames’s hand tighter with one hand, smooth out the collar of his Armani sweater with the other, and tell her that he’s just glad that he wore such a nice sweater the day he saved Eames, that he just couldn’t let go. 

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer before I add my actual notes,  
> Most of the characters in this story belongs to the great Christopher Nolan, I'm just a child playing around in the sandbox with them.  
> I made up pretty much everything save for the scenes that were actually in the movie. The Robert Fischer job scenes are from the original movie, all words are exactly how they were in the movie because I watched it a few times while writing this Haha. Although I cant say I nailed their thought process, but arent we all hoping that's how it went ;)
> 
> Now moving on,
> 
> A big thank you to Kate for giving me the prompt "favourite sweater"!!  
> I'm so lucky to have gotten such an understanding person to gift my work to, thank you for being so patient with me.  
> And a sincere apology that I've played around it so much to the point where I was writing practically for myself.
> 
> I hope you liked it!! I sure had fun writing it.  
> If not though, don't hesitate to tell me if you'd like another one or a different one! :)


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